Cropscapes in the eye of the beholder

A time/space lens of the Maya Forest as a garden

Bibliographic Data

ID20182644
AuthorsAnabel Ford (0000-0001-7310-0684, University of California, Santa Barbara, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume41
Issue3-4
Pages264-284
Publication date2025-10-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHistory and Technology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0734-1512 • E-ISSN: 1477-2620
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/07341512.2025.2571290
OpenAlexW4415948053
LanguageEN
References cited57

The landscape of the ancient Maya flourished with investment in the dynamic resources of tropical Maya forest of lowland Mesoamerica. Unfamiliar to the Western eye, Maya traditions were literally overlooked at the time of the brutal conquest and have been degraded as primitive and destructive since. Far from simple, this sophisticated system is one of keen observation of nature and the structuring of human needs in tune with the nature of the forested landscape. At the crux of the problem of understanding the nature of the Maya forest is the imposition of the Eurocentric view without regard for the Indigenous knowledge. The Maya cultivated nature, embedding their needs by observing nature, demonstrating a mastery of nature and cultivating the biological capital as a product of their culture. The result is a landscape with cycles from productive poly-cultivated fields and varied regenerative and marure forest habitats that sustained everyday life

Maya · Through-the-lens metering · Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development · Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory · Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management

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